After nearly four months of operating without a Board of Elections, Lenoir County will swear in its new members on July 16.

Tommy Pharo, Lucinda “Cindy” Minges and Courtney Patterson have all been selected to represent the Lenoir County Board of Elections and will take an oath on July 16 at noon at the Board of Elections’ headquarters on S. Herritage Street.

There are two Republicans (Pharo and Minges) and one Democrat appointed in Lenoir County — as well as every county in N.C. — because of Gov. Pat McCrory’s political affiliation as a Republican. The majority of each county’s board of elections goes to the seating party of the state governor.

The local Democratic and Republican parties send three names each to the state parties in Raleigh, who send the names to the State Board of Elections. From there, the state appoints board members for each county.

Pharo — who resigned from his position as treasurer with the Lenoir County Republican Party on Monday — was excited about the opportunity to be a part of the Board of Elections.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I like to serve and be involved in things. This is an excellent way to do that for Lenoir County.”

Minges — a former chairman of the Republican Party in Greene County — plans on helping implement the law for the voters in Lenoir County.

“I’m really happy and excited I’ve been appointed,” Minges said. “I’m hoping to give assurance that all N.C. election laws are followed and we maintain integrity of the process of elections in Lenoir County. It’s my main focus and only focus because that’s what the Board of Elections is all about. I’m going to adhere to these laws.”

Patterson — who has served as the second Vice Chair of the Lenoir County Democratic Party and was an Executive Committee Member of the N.C. Democratic Party — plans on making sure every Lenoir County voter has little or no problems at the polls.

“I plan on maintaining a sense of integrity in terms of doing everything we can with exercising constitutional rights to vote, removing barriers preventing anyone from being discouraged to vote and making voting as acceptable as possible for all citizens,” he said.

The three will replace former Chairwoman Sharon Kanter, Secretary Oscar Herring and board member Kim Allison. The former Lenoir County Board of Elections resigned en masse in March after the State Board of Elections denied their request of getting Director Dana King removed from her position at the county board.

“I don’t like the fact there was controversy,” King said. “All I can really say is it was in God’s hands and I’m thankful I still have a job. I didn’t say much during the process because I didn’t know why they wanted me terminated. I sent my reply and left it at that.”

Page 2 of 2 - King went on to say she wasn’t upset about the former Lenoir County Board of Director’s decision.

“I don’t have any ill feelings about what happened,” King said. “The board did what they felt like they needed to do. That’s the past though, and I’m looking forward to the future.”

Upon hearing King’s words, Kanter agreed with the director and said there are more pressing matters at hand.

“I think it’s a fair assessment,” Kanter said. “There was a lengthy document sent to the state as to why there needed to be another director and the state didn’t agree. That was the end of that and we’re all under the opinion that we needed to move forward with the business of helping Lenoir County’s voter turnout to be maximized.

“There’s nothing to be gained rehashing old news and there’s much more important work to take care of.”

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.